Community Meeting This Friday, June 4 in Detroit, Food Security Network

Join us as we welcome Will Allen and the Growing Power team to Detroit to train and educate our community on urban agriculture!

Friday, June 4, 2010, 7:00 pm
Will Allen lecture
Location: Nsoroma Institute
20045 Joann Street
Detroit, MI 48205 (3 blocks S. of E. 8 mile, 4 blocks west of Schoenherr St.)
Price: $20.00 per person

Saturday and Sunday, 9:00am to 6:00pm
Workshops at D-Town Farm at Rouge Park
Location: W. Outer Dr. between W. Chicago and Orangelawn
Subjects: Hoop house Construction and Vermicomposting
Workshop cost is $100.00 for both days, which includes Continental breakfast and a full lunch each day.

Call (313) 345 3663 if you have questions or need further information.

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About Will Allen

Will Allen, son of a sharecropper, former professional basketball player, ex-corporate sales leader and now farmer, has become recognized as among the preeminent thinkers of our time on agriculture and food policy. The founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc., a farm and community food center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Will is widely considered the leading authority in the expanding field of urban agriculture. At Growing Power and in community food projects across the nation and around the world, Will promotes the belief that all people, regardless of their economic circumstances, should have access to fresh, safe, affordable and nutritious foods at all times. Using methods he has developed over a lifetime, Will trains community members to become community farmers, assuring them a secure source of good food without regard to political or economic forces.
In 2008, Will was named a John D. and Katherine T. McArthur Foundation Fellow and was awarded a prestigious foundation “genius grant” for his work – only the second farmer ever to be so honored. He is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and in February 2010, he was invited to the White House to join First Lady Michelle Obama in launching “Let’s Move!” her signature leadership program to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity in America. In May 2010, Time magazine named Will to the Time 100 World’s Most Influential People

Aurora Harris: May 22, 2010: Detroit's Black Community Food Security Network and Urban Gardening

Earlier this week, I ran into my farmer friends Leslie and Cornelius, who started their urban farm on the east side of Detroit, across the street from the 4-H Club on McClellan Street. After seeing them, I decided to catch up on what's happening with Detroit's Black Community Food Security Network since there are plans to sell empty lots in the city to John Hantz, who wants to do commercial farming in the city. With all due respect to the DBCFSN, were they invited to attend meetings with Mayor or Hantz to discuss what is currently taking place by African American farmers and urban gardeners? From reading some of the articles on the internet regarding the sale of city lots, I haven't seen one that mentions grassroots farmers and gardeners included in the discussions.


From the Black Community Food Security Network's website


http://detroitblackfoodsecurity.org/

UPCOMING EVENTS

General meeting
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Northstar Community Development Corporation
3800 Puritan, between Dexter and Holmur

Will Allen visit !
June 4, 5 and 6, 2010
More Information

What's for Dinner?
Discussion series about issues of food security, urban farming, and food quality.
Each session will be held at:
The Detroit Public Library
5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan

Session 2 - Gardens As Resistance
Saturday, June 19, 2010
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Old Fine Arts Room

Go to web site to download "Gardens As Resistance" flyer


Mailing address:

3800 Puritan

Detroit, MIchigan 48221

The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), a non-profit, grassroots, community organization aims to change our thinking about food, where it comes from, and who controls it.

DBCFSN was formed in 2006 for the following purposes:

* Influencing Public Policy
* Promoting Urban Agriculture
* Encouraging Co-operative Buying Habits
* Promoting Healthy Eating Habits
* Facilitating Mutual support and collective action among our members
* Encouraging young people to pursue careers in agriculture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, and other food related fields.


DBCFSN has several key programs:

* D-Town Farm - our 2 acre model urban farm located in Rouge Park in Northwestern Detroit. The operation includes organic vegetable plots, two bee hives, a hoop house for year round food production, and a composting operation. Our produce is grown using sustainable, chemical-free practices, and sold at D-Town farm, Eastern Market, and urban growers markets throughout Detroit.
* Harvest Festival - an event held every year that showcases our farming operations.
* Ujamaa Cooperative Food Buying Club
* The Food Warriors Youth Development Program - our partnership with three African centered schools - Aisha Shule, Nsoromma Institute, and Timbuktu Academy - to introduce elementary school students to agriculture.

Go to website to get directions and map to the D-Town Farm

WORK SCHEDULE:

Do you wish to volunteer at D-Town Farm? Join us every Saturday and Sunday from 8am to noon at the farm. Work clothes, work boots, gloves, brimmed hat, water, bug repellent, and a great attitude are strongly encouraged!